The Scavengers' situation in Payatas, Quezon City in relation to the existing Solid Waste Management in the Philippines

Abstract

In the Philippines, the Scavengers (or waste pickers) are largely involved, informally, in the solid waste management system in the municipal level. Though they generate considerable benefits to society, the scavengers remains to be poor that tends to have low income, lives in squalid living conditions near the dumpsites and are often ignored in waste management policies. The scavengers are those who collect, sell, or even use for personal consumption, re-usable and recyclable materials from the streets, dumpsites, or landfills The study was conducted in Payatas, with the aim to critically assess the situation and the conditions of the scavengers and to review the existing Solid Waste Management in the Philippines and how it impacts the lives of the scavengers. Interviews were conducted for the purpose of critically examining the social and economic impacts of waste picking, and the role of the local government in the waste management system of the city. Statistics and date from groups and institutions were used to further analyse the waste situation of the Philippines.